Find Me A Date
by coolcatz
Summary: Catherine decides her taste in men cannot be trusted and forces Gil to find her a date. Complete
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimers: No, not mine, they belong to CBS, Alliance, etc. So does my mountain of debt. 

Spoilers: Weeping Willows

Summary: Catherine decides her taste in men cannot be trusted and forces Gil to find her a date

Tuesday 

"Hey you!"

Gil Grissom looked up from his mountain of paperwork to see Catherine Willows standing in his doorway.

"Hello Catherine. Can I help you with something?" She walked into his office, closing the door behind her. Gil put his pen down as she took a seat on the other side of his desk.

"Actually, yes. I need a date. And I need you to find one for me." She flashed a mischievous grin towards him.

"Excuse me?" He took his glasses off, a look of confusion taking over his face.

"Well, after the whole thing with Chris and the mess with Adam Novak and you're reaction to it all I've decided that the problem is me. That I do not know how to find a man for myself. And since I don't want a repeat of what happened between us after that Novak creep I'm going to let you find me a date."

"Are you serious?" Gil couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Yes. And you only have till Saturday night. Lindsey's sleeping over at her friend's house and I'm off. And you need to tell me where he's taking me by Thursday so I'll have time to figure out what to wear." Catherine sat back, crossing her legs and arms. He wasn't getting out of this.

"Cath, this is ridiculous." Gil mirrored her pose on his side of the desk. She wasn't getting away with this one.

"No, it's not. This way, if he's a jerk it's your fault and you can't yell at me."

"I won't yell at you," he said a little louder than necessary.

"You'll be disappointed in me."

"I just don't like seeing you hurt," he said with complete sincerity.

"And that's why I'm asking you to do this. I trust your judgment." Catherine's phone buzzed, she grabbed to see who was calling, "That's Jacqui, gotta go." And with that she was gone.

Gil sat at his desk for a moment as he thought about what had just transpired between the two of them. Catherine seriously expected him to find her a date by Saturday. What the hell? It was already Tuesday and she needed to know what to wear by Thursday. He wasn't a dating service. He knew damned well what she was doing. She was still pissed off about the way he reacted to the Adam Novac situation. And if Catherine was pissed off he knew he wasn't going to be in a good mood. They had managed to be civil to each other since that incident, even reclaiming a bit of closeness during Nick's kidnapping. But it had been fleeting and the tension between them was back worse than ever.

Maybe this was her way of telling him that they were going to be good again. Maybe it was her way of getting back at him for his reaction that day. Either way he felt like she was pushing him a little farther than he wanted to go. He should just tell her he isn't doing this, that the whole idea of him picking a man out for her was absurd. He knew her type and he wasn't about to fix her up with anyone like that. It always ended up with Catherine getting hurt. And why would he even try to fix her up with someone who wasn't her type? She'd just have a horrible evening and then be angry with him come Monday. And who did he know that he could fix her up with? Gil shook his head as he felt a migraine coming on.


	2. Chapter 2

disclaimers: don't own them. cbs, alliance, etc own them. they also own my mountain of debt. so please stop calling me.

spoilers: nada

**Wednesday **

Gil woke up, migraine still in place. He grabbed his pills and swallowed a couple, knowing that this time they would not help. This migraine was caused by Catherine and the only way to cure himself of it was to do what she asked of him. And after that, he could deal with the migraine that would come from doing what was asked of him. But if two migraines meant the return of their previous relationship, then it was a small price to pay. She was his best friend, had been for many years. She knew him better than anyone else and vise versa. Her happiness meant a lot to him so he knew he had to do his best for her.

After he had showered and made himself breakfast he pulled out his phone book, it was time to get serious. Mike Bishop? No, he still lived with his mother. Darren Chance? A possibility, but would Cath really take a man whose wardrobe came from Wal-Mart seriously? David Bremner was definitely out. His wife divorced him for cheating on her. No way was he fixing her up with Mark Altman, the guy was a total player. Barry Green was a great guy, but his personal hygiene habits left a lot to be desired. Moving on. Stanley Harris was a prof of psychology at UNLV and an amazing boxer. Possibility. James Lemming, nope, didn't like kids. Edward Monk? No, great guy but he was looking for a great guy himself. Maybe he should hook him up with Bobby D.

Gil shook his head, hook him up with Bobby D.? Now he was turning matchmaker for Bobby and Edward. He put the book down, grabbed his coke and took a sip. He reached for the remote and turned on the television, determined to find something else to think about for a few minutes. Rerun. Rerun. Cop show-unrealistic. Infomercial. Home Improvement Show. Ancient Sitcom. Automobile construction show. Cary Grant & Myrna Loy. Baseball…Cubs vs. Braves. It was the bottom of the third and Gil thought he might have time to watch the rest of the game before going in to the lab. By the top of the fourth, though, the game was in a rain delay so he flipped back to the film. He'd seen it years before but couldn't remember the name, oh yeah, "The Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer."

He picked up his phone and gave Stanley a call, figuring that he could set this date up in one quick call.

"Hey, Stan, It's Gil."

"Hey, how are ya, Bugman? Where the hell have you been lately?'

"Working."

"Listen Stan…"

"You know, the guys at the gym have been asking about you. Haven't seen you down there in a couple of months. You find a woman?"

"Me? Hardly, no time. Stan, I need…"

"What about that babe you work with, the blonde? Or is she still seeing that nightclub owner?"

"Stan, um, that's actually why I'm calling."

"Need a psych eval on this guy? She getting serious or something?"

"Stan, would you just shut up a minute."

"Sorry, Bugman, don't get your boxers in a wad. What do you need?"

"I don't need anything. SHE needs a date this Saturday and she wants me to fix her up."

"And you've lost me Bugman."

"Stan, I'm asking you to take her out."

Silence. Total silence.

"Stan, she's gorgeous. She's got a great personality. She's intelligent."

Silence again. Followed by loud, boisterous laughter from Stan's end.

"Bugman, you kill me. I'd love to take her out…"

"Great, let me give you her number…"

"…But I'm already taken. Met her about a month ago at a convention in San Antonio."

"Oh, I didn't know. Congratulations."

"Thanks, man. She's amazing. Specializes in elderly psych conditions. And she's a pretty good racketball partner too. Listen, my other line's buzzing, gotta go. And, Gil."

"Yeah, Stan."

"Don't fuck this up."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." And they both hung up.

Gil signed as he placed the phone back in it's cradle. So much for this being easy. He grabbed his phone book and started flipping through it again. Jim Brass—he would do it, but Cath wanted a romantic date, not a night out with a friend. Terry O'Connell might work. He was a local sculpture who Gil had met at one of his mother's gallery showings a few years back. Ryan Vance was another possible choice. He was a local real estate investor that Gil had met months ago when looking at investment properties. Single, ambitious, career oriented. He also possessed an incredibly quick wit that would keep Catherine on her toes. Jerry Williams…NO! He was an incredible bore with the ability to put even the most tweaked out crack user to sleep. He grabbed the phone once more to make his calls.

"Terry, this is Gil."

"Gil, where have you been?"

"Work."

"Really."

"Work. And training cockroaches. Got a speech to give in St. Louis in a couple of months. There's going to be racing."

"Of course…"

"Hoping I can win one this time. What's happening with you?"

"One of your friends, Ryan, gave me a call a month or so back and has commissioned me to do some sculptures for a new commercial park he's developing. I'm doing the whole project with scrap metals recovered from shipwrecks in the deep gulf."

"Send me the work-up, I'd like to see it."

"Email still the same?"

"Oh yeah. Terry, listen, I need a favor."

"Anything."

"I've got this friend…"

"…anything but THAT."

"Terry, you didn't even let me finish."

"Let me guess, great personality, wonderful sense of humor, needs a date."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Gil, we both know that means she's desperate."

"She is not. She's incredible. She's gorgeous. I work with her."

"That kid with the dark hair and dark clothes? Not my type."

"Mine either, but it's not her. It's Catherine."

"You want me to go out with Catherine?"

"Terry, please."

"Gil, as much as I would like to say yes I've got to say no."

"I don't understand."

"If I say yes, and we have a great time I'll ask her out again. Listen, buddy, she's hot, but we've been friends too long for me to feel comfortable taking her out."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Man, you are hopeless. I appreciate the offer, but no. Good luck. I'll catch you later." With that Terry hung up.

Good grief, thought Gil as he dialed Ryan's number.

"Hello," said a female voice.

"Um, is Ryan available?"

"Hold on." Gil heard her mumble something and then movement.

"Who the hell is this?" said the male voice on the other end.

"It's me, Gil."

"You know, your timing is rotten."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that out. I'll call you later."

"No, I'm here, what did you need?"

"I was going to ask you to go out with a friend of mine, but it seems you already have a friend."

"Yeah, and she's giving me a look like you wouldn't believe. Bye, Gil." He hung up before Gil could even utter a reply.

He threw the phone across the room in frustration. He knew this was going to be difficult, but this was ridiculous. It was almost time to leave for work and he hadn't found a date for her after going through his enter phone book. He grabbed his keys, turned off the tv and the lights, locked his door and left for the office.


	3. Chapter 3

disclaimers: see previous

spoilers: nope

**Wednesday, midshift**

Gil, Greg and Warrick had left the lab in order to find something to eat. They went to the local dinner that all of them ate at on a regular basis. The food was good, the service quick and friendly and the music from the jukebox varied. It was your typical roadside diner, cheesy roadkill posters on the wall, local artwork in the display boxes and a waitress straight out of that old series, "Alice," who was named, ironically enough, Alice. They had quickly settled into their regular booth. Alice brought them their drinks and took their orders.

"Warrick, do you have plans Saturday?" asked Gil. Both Warrick and Greg nearly choked on their food. Grissom never asked about anyone's plans.

"Thinking about having diner with my grandmother. You?"

"Nothing here, maybe doing some paperwork."

"On a Saturday night? The universal party night?" Greg said, not believing that someone would truly do something other than party on a Saturday night. Grissom just rolled his eyes.

"Any chance you'd want to change those plans?" Warrick stirred his food, unsure of where this conversation was going.

"If you need me to cover shift, then I'm sorry I'm promised my grandmother I'd be there."

"I need you to go out with someone."

Warrick stopped mid-bite, "Gris, sorry man. I do not do blind dates."

"Warrick, please. I'm desperate."

"Hey, Grissom, I'll do it," Greg chimed in.

"NO!" Grissom practically shouted. No way was he putting Catherine through an evening with Greg. But then again, he trusted Greg to treat Catherine like she should be treated. Greg had always had a boyish crush on her. Greg was even entertaining at times. And Catherine could squash him in an instant if he actually grew balls enough to make a move on her. "Sorry I snapped at you Greg. You're a little young for her."

"Oh, an older lady. Is she sexy?"

"Very."

"Intriguing." Images of The Graduate flashed through Greg's mind. "So, what does she look like?"

"Like Catherine." Gil took another bite of his hotdog.

'

"Oh man, Catherine has a doppelganger?" The whole visual of Mrs. Robinson looking like Catherine was almost more than Greg could bear. Gris, I swear I'll pay you to let me take her out."

"Greg, it IS Catherine. And, no, you are not taking her out." Both Greg and Warrick sat there staring at Grissom, completely stunned. Warrick was the first to speak.

"Why are you trying to find a date for Catherine?"

"She asked me to. And I've only got one more day to find her a date." Warrick shook his head, laughing. Damn, Cath was good. He knew she had been pissed at Grissom for a while, but he wasn't really sure why. She was obviously making him pay for whatever it was by doing this. Grissom looked uncomfortable, but this was too good not to laugh at.

"Why not just take her out yourself?" Greg asked, thinking that that is what he would do if he were in Grissom's shoes. Oh, how Greg wished he were in his shoes. Meanwhile, Warrick, who was trying not to laugh, was choking on his burger.

"She asked me to FIND her a date, not BE her date," grimaced Grissom.

"But did she specifically say you COULDN'T be her date? Semantics, I know, but it would solve your problem," said Greg, wondering why on earth he was making this harder than it actually was.

Warrick sat there laughing to himself. The whole situation was ridiculous, Cath asking Grissom to find her a date, Grissom actually looking for one and Greg's solution to the problem. He looked at Grissom who looked like he was ready to kill Greg. What he wouldn't give to have a camcorder on him at the moment.

"Grissom, what about that guy at the bar? He's alone, he could probably use a date," chimed Greg.

"Hey, Greggo, lay off for a few," said Warrick. "Gris is not going to fix her up with a total stranger. Cath would kill him."

Realizing he was loosing control of the situation Grissom spoke, "Greg, she will go out with whomever I pick. Whether it is someone I know, someone we both know or a perfect stranger is irrelevant." Grissom crumpled his napkin and threw it in his plate. "We need to get back to the lab. I expect both of you to keep your mouth's shut—GREG!"

Warrick and Greg walked back out to the Denali, Grissom stayed behind to pay the tab. While waiting at the counter for Alice he started checking out the lone man at the bar. He wasn't the best looking man in the world but he was alone. No wedding ring on his finger and no tan line either. The man was tall, slender and clean-shaven. He was most likely a salesman. No, he couldn't do this to her. Or could he? He was quickly running out of time.

"Can I help you?" said the guy at the bar, wondering why this man was looking at him.

"Um, nothing. It's just…well, are you married?"

"Hey, listen buddy, I do not swing that way so just get the hell out of…" The man stood suddenly, he was much taller than he appeared to be when he was sitting down. Grissom took a couple of steps away from him.

"No, no. I'm not coming on to you," Grissom blushed. "It's just, I have this friend and she wants me to find a date for her. And I'm having a little trouble finding someone for her."

"You're kidding me?" Oh, this was too good to be true. He had just broken up with his girlfriend and now someone was throwing a woman in his lap.

"I'm quite serious. She's gorgeous, intelligent, sexy, witty, a great dancer…"

"Sounds promising." He was actually thinking "who cares! If she's going on a blind date she's desperate and I need to get laid pretty badly." To Gil he said "When do you want me to meet her?"

"Saturday night, but before you do I need some information."

"Information?"

"I'm not sending her out with a complete stranger without knowing something about him. All you have to do is give me your name and license number so I can check you out."

"Oh, hell no! How do I know you aren't going to steel my identity?" The man was not liking where this was going. He was two years behind on his child support and DHS was after him. One inquiry in any system and it was off to jail.

"I'm a criminalist with the Las Vegas Crime Lab, this is my ID. I just want to make sure you don't have a record."

"Thanks, but no thanks. Not worth it." And with that the stranger placed a ten on the counter and left.

Alice chose this moment to reappear.

"Grissom, driving off my customers cuts into my tips, ya know," she said as she was gathering up the stranger's dishes.

"Sorry about that. Maybe this will help." Grissom gave her an extra ten and left before he embarrassed himself further.


	4. Chapter 4

disclaimers: i don't own them, did try to get them by means of a five-finger discount but the guard caught me at the door

spoilers: very vague

**Wednesday, End of Shift**

Gil was rushing through his paperwork, trying to complete it and leave before Catherine had a chance to find him. He knew she would ask about her date and he would have to tell her he was failing miserably at his task. Or was he? He hadn't even had a full 24 hours yet to find someone for her. He had eliminated several candidates for one reason or another, including Greg, something she should be eternally grateful for. So he hadn't found her a man yet. It had only been one day. She had how many years and she hadn't found one for herself. Since he had known her there had been Eddie, Paul, Chris and Adam, and a few others who never made it past the first date.

He and Ed went back a long way. They had met during one of Gil's visits to Disco Placid for help on a case. They had formed a quick friendship, sharing a love of music and women, often combining the two by spending free nights at a local strip club. It was there that they ran into Jimmy and he had introduced them to one of the dancers, a woman named Catherine. Things happened, Ed & Catherine were married and all seemed well with the world. It wasn't until a few months later, after Catherine had started working in the lab that Gil had learned the truth about Ed. She was late coming in, her normally flawless face swollen. It took Catherine several more years and a particularly bad beating before she worked up the courage to leave him the first time. They had gone through marriage counseling and she had gone back to him. Finding Eddie in bed with another woman was the final straw and she finally filed for divorce. Even then Gil suspected that they occasionally saw each other for some time after the divorce.

Paul was her rebound guy, the one she met while working a case involving a collapsed building. He seemed nice, seemed like he had his life together. Gil wasn't sure what happened between them other than one day he was there and the next he was history.

Chris was co-owner of a club of the victim in one of their cases. He was your stereotypical Vegas club owner, flashy clothes and a flashy car with women all around him. He was another Eddie. The difference being that he actually worked. She had walked in on him and one of the waitresses from him club. It was Ed all over again, minus the violence.

Adam. He was just some random guy in a bar that she had hooked up with. He thought she was easy, a one-night stand. When Catherine had changed her mind she had ended up with a cut on her face. She said it was from the car door, but Gil still didn't believe her. And to top it off, he ended up a suspect in one of their cases. Catherine had completely pissed Gil off over this. She had no business out late at night in a bar by herself. She knew as well as he did what could happen to a woman out like that. He tried to tell her but she wouldn't listen to him. And then she wanted to know how long HE was going to go on like he was. The woman was unbelievable.

This is what he didn't understand. Why she picked me we were so obviously the wrong type. Why she picked men involved in their cases. Why she couldn't just stay home like he did. Or just hang out with him. They always had a good time when they did that. It was usually just the two of them at his place. Sometimes Lindsey would join them. They would eat, talk and watch movies. But no, that wasn't enough for Catherine. She needed a boy toy in her life. She needed someone who would treat her like yesterday's bread. It was as if she had some serious issues with her own happiness. Gil felt his migraine coming back. Why did trying to figure out Catherine always give him a headache? He opened his desk drawer and began rummaging for his pills. Five minutes later he still had not found them. One of these days he was actually going to clean out his desk, but that day was not today. He slammed the drawer shut, laid his head back in the chair and closed his eyes. Catherine chose that moment to appear in his door.

"You know, sleeping on the job is not going to find me a date." She walked in and took a seat in front of his desk.

"I've got a headache." He didn't move, didn't open his eyes, he just sat there.

"Have you taken anything?"

"NO, I can't find my pills." Catherine walked around the side of his desk, opened the bottom drawer and grabbed the pills he couldn't find 10 minutes ago. "Here, take two, and eat something with it."

"Thanks." He put the pills in his mouth and swallowed them.

"So, who's my date for Saturday night?" She said as she sat back down.

"Um, well, I haven't found one yet." Gil said, head still on his desk.

"You've had a whole day." Catherine smirked. She really shouldn't be enjoying this. He was obviously in pain.

"Catherine, it's not that easy." He wondered how long it would take the medication to kick in.

"Really now. Gil have you tried looking at all?" Catherine knew he had asked Warrick. If there was one thing you could count on in the Las Vegas crime lab it was that any and all gossip would be available through one Greg Sanders. Of course, this little bit of information had come at a price. Greg wanted to take her out for a meal. She agreed on the conditions that Lindsey accompany them, that they go to Chucky Cheese (surprisingly Greg loved this idea) and that it was an outing between coworkers and nothing more. Besides, Greg reminded her of Gil when they first met. She knew they'd have a good time.

"Yes, I have. Now if you don't mind I just want to close my eyes and rest." He lowered his head back down to his desk.

"No."

"What do you mean 'no'?" All he wanted was to be left alone in the dark until the pain subsided. He did not want to deal with Catherine's social life right now.

"I don't get just any Saturday night off with Lindsey gone and I need a date. So get off your ass and find me a man."

"Catherine, please." His head was pounding now and he was seeing the migraine auras. Hopefully, the medication would kick in soon, otherwise he'd have to go home. There was no way he could work like this.

"Right. Migraine." Catherine smiled softly. It was fun torturing him, but at the moment he needed rest. "Can you drive yourself home or do you need me to give you a ride?"

"I'll manage." She turned to leave his office. "Catherine."

"Yes?"

"I swear, I will find you a date," he said in all earnestness.

"Gil. Go home." Her smile grew even wider and she left him alone in his office.


	5. Chapter 5

**disclaimer: i claim nothing. i know nothing.**

**spoilers: if you can name them then you are truly a csi fan.**

**Thursday, breakfast**

Gil woke up around 4pm headache free. For the moment at least. He crawled into the shower, needing to feel the pulsating water to fully bring him out of his slumber. When he was done he wrapped a towel around his waist and walked towards the kitchen, wanting to eat breakfast before brushing his teeth. The first thing he saw was that he had left the lights on last night. The medication must have been stronger than he thought because he was certain he had turned out the lights before going to bed. The second thing he saw was Catherine. In his kitchen. Cooking That at least explained why the lights were on.

"Catherine?"

"Good morning, Gil. Hungry?" She was cutting peppers for what he assumed was an omelet.

"Yeah, actually, I am." He stood there, staring at her, thinking how did she get in here. "Catherine…"

"The complex manager let me in when I told her I needed to check on you. So take that puzzled look off your face, put some clothes on and help me with this." She dumped the peppers into a bowl and handed it to Gil. "I cooked some bacon earlier, chop it up and put it in here."

Gil complied, but only because he wasn't sure what the hell was going on. His townhouse was filled with the smells of morning breakfast causing him to realize how hungry he actually was. After finishing the bacon he opened the fridge and pulled out several oranges to make some fresh juice. Most people would have just grabbed the carton he had in the fridge and gone with that, but Gil preferred fresh squeezed. He also felt that since Catherine was doing the cooking he should do a little something extra for her.

Gil's skills in the kitchen were really not well know among the CSIs. Most of his team assumed he ate out for most of his meals. He did eat out often, it wasn't really an option with his job. However, he preferred to make his meals at home when possible. His mother had taught him to cook at a young age. She approached her cooking as if it were a piece of art she was creating and she had instilled that quality in her son. Catherine and Lindsey were really the only ones who were clued in to his prowess in the kitchen.

Catherine finished the omelets about the same time that Gil finished making the juice. Catherine had dished up the food and carried it the table where they sat down to eat. Both sat in silence, enjoying each other's company and the good food. When they were done eating Gil took the dishes and placed them in the dishwasher. Catherine was sitting on his sofa, staring out the window.

"So, Gil. It's Thursday." Catherine said, still peaking out the blinds at the city below.

"Yes, it is." Gil was dreading this talk.

"Don't you have something to tell me?" Catherine twisted around on the sofa so that she could look at him. "Like, who I'm going out with this weekend. And where?"

Gil finished wiping the counters off and placed the dishtowel in the sink before answering her.

"Catherine, You asked me to find you a date at the END of shift on Tuesday. We haven't even started shift yet. I still have several hours before I have to tell you who your date is." Ok, it was an excuse, a lame excuse at that, but it was all he had.

"Gil, you haven't found one for me yet, have you?" She was grinning her Cheshire grin and Gil knew instantly that she was just teasing him.

"Well, Catherine. It is not exactly easy to convince a man to go on a blind date and it's even harder when that blind date is you." This was more like it, teasing each other, pushing each other's buttons to see just how far they could push without crossing any line.

"It has to be a lot easier to find a date for me than for a 50 year old, 5'11" workaholic living in a hermetically sealed condo…"

"TOWNHOUSE!" Damn it, he thought, she knew he hated that word. It sounded so like a condom.

"CONDO!" She knew he hated that word because to him it sounded too like condom. She had to agree with him, but still…

"Well, Catherine, I've asked every man I know. I even had Brass go back through our cases and find the men that had been released who might be interested in you. And all of them turned me down. Said something about your being old, not having a personality and being fat." OK, that might be crossing the line.

"I happen to know that a certain Sexy Kitty would kill for the opportunity to take me out," she said laughing, "so bite me, bugman!"

"Anywhere. Anytime, Catherine. Just say the word." Both were laughing now. Gil was thinking to himself that this felt right, felt like they used to act around each other.

"So, the migraine's gone then?" She really was concerned for him. He did not look good at all last night.

"Yeah." He smiled, knowing now that that was the real reason she was there.

"Good." She stood up and walked over to the counter, picking up her purse, "I've got to go pick up Linds from track practice. I'll see you at work." She opened the door and was gone.

Gil still had several hours to kill before going into the lab so he decided to check out the auction sites and see if they had any good deals on Roy Rogers memorabilia and original Pink Floyd vinyls. One of the sites he was looking at had an ad at the top for a service called E-Harmony that said it could find you a compatible match. He clicked on it and looked through the information about the company and decided that it might be legitimate enough. He registered Catherine and spent the next hour filling in the extensive profile questionnaire. After he finished her profile he pulled out his credit card and paid the registration fee. Then he went back and scanned in his favorite picture of Catherine. It was from one of Lindsey's birthday parties. She was sitting beside Lindsey on the playset, both of them swinging as high as they could. Catherine had a look of pure joy on her face. When he was done he went back to searching for more Pink Floyd. His inbox would notify him of anyone interested in her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Find Me A Date**

Disclaimer: don't own them, will trade you for them. I'm sure I've got something worth trading.

Spoilers: none

**Thursday at work**

Grissom arrived at the lab about 20 minutes late because he had been programming his cell phone to receive his email alerts. He hurried to his office to grab the night's assignments and hand them out. Warrick, Greg and Catherine were given a B&E off the strip. He assigned himself to work with Nick and Sara on a missing persons complaint, thinking that at least this would buy him some time to find Catherine's date. Before he could get them all out of the break room his cell phone went off. Grissom grabbed it and saw it was a message from E-Harmony. He put the phone away deciding now was not the time to be checking the message.

"Uh, Grissom, you're not going to see what that was about?"

"I know what it was about, not important. OK, people, let's go."

Everyone gathered their things and headed for the Denalis. Grissom climbed in as his phone beeped for the 2nd time. He looked at the display, another E-Harmony email, and put it back on his beltclip.

"Grissom, that's two messages, don't you think you should check it?" Sara said.

"Nope." Grissom didn't even look back, just kept driving. They arrived at the scene a short while later and while getting his gear his phone went off again.

"Gris, you got another message." Nick said as he grabbed his case.

"I heard it."

"You avoiding someone?"

"Nope." Grissom grabbed his case and walked away.

Grissom walked up to Brass to get an update on what was going on.

"Neighbor called it in, said the mail was piling up. So she tried calling, got no answer and then came over and saw the back door open. She went in and didn't…"

Grissom's phone went off again. He looked, another match.

"Don't you think you should listen to that? Could be the sheriff."

"If it was the sheriff I'd turn the phone off."

"Yeah, well, whoever it is has left another message," said Brass as Grissom's phone beeped again.

"I need to go process this scene."

"Sounds like you need to check the messages to me."

"Sounds like you need to be questioning the witness to me."

Grissom finally found his way to the interior of the scene. Once inside he gave instructions to Nick and Sara about what he wanted done. It took a little big longer than normal because his phone went off three more times before he could finish telling them what to do. When Sara tried to ask him what was going on he just gave her that Grissom stare that said it was none of her business.

Nick was working in the kitchen with Grissom the next time his phone beeped.

"Hey, man, you got a girlfriend that we don't know about?"

"What?"

"A girlfriend? I mean no one pages a man that often unless they are in love or pissed off at someone they are in love with."

"Process Nick."

"Right, bossman. Don't discuss your personal life." Nick photographed a piece of evidence.

Grissom's phone beeped again. He was beginning to regret registering Catherine at E-Harmony.

"I, uh, think I'll go see how Sara's doing on those prints."

"Why don't you check those messages while you're at it!" Nick said as his flash indicated another photo.

"Nick. Process. Now"

"Yes sir!" Nick laughed to himself. "The bossman had found a woman, a very persistent woman."

Grissom stopped halfway between Sara and Nick in order to check his messages. A total of 10 new messages flashed at him from his display screen, all from E-Harmony. All of them wanting to meet Catherine.

The first message was from a man in Georgia. His profile was good, but the distance between Georgia and Vegas was not so good. Grissom quickly typed in a reply stating he appreciated the interest but that "she" wasn't interested in a long distance relationship.

The second message was from a manufacturing engineer in Phoenix. He had already been married three times according to his profile and was currently on the look out for wife number four. Grissom just deleted the message without even replying.

The third message was from a doctor in Reno. He had his own practice and volunteered twice a month at a local clinic that served the community's poor. He had been married once and had two sons. Grissom sent a reply asking him for more information about himself.

The fourth, fifth and six messages were all from total losers as far as Grissom was concerned and he deleted them as well.

The seventh message was from a gentleman in the Lake Tahoe area. He was a computer programmer who spent his off-time cross-country skiing and mountain climbing. His photo was, in Lindsey's language, hot. Grissom fired off a reply asking to chat with him so "she" could get to know him a little better.

Messages eight and nine were from men who lived in New York. Grissom deleted these also, muttering to himself that any man who couldn't read Catherine's profile correctly (no long distance relationships) wasn't worth his time.

Message ten was from a man in the Vegas area. His profile stated he was a business owner (hotels and casinos) and that he recognized Catherine from a picture he had seen in Sam Braun's office. The gentleman said that he was shocked that a woman as beautiful as Catherine had to resort to searching online to find a date and that had he known she was available he would have approached her himself. Grissom wasn't sure what to do with this one. He stared at the screen trying to decide how he was going to reply back when Sara surprised him.

"Somebody's popular tonight." She pointed to his phone.

"Aren't you supposed to be printing?"

"Done. Care to tell me who it is that can't wait to hear from you?"

"Don't see that it's really any of your business."

"Fine. Listen, there's some kind of bug in there and I really didn't want to get too close to it, could you…"

"Sure." Grissom reached to put his phone in his pocket and started towards the room Sara had come from, not realizing that he had missed his pocket and the phone had landed on the carpet below. Sara quickly grabbed it up. It was unusual for her supervisor's phone to ring like it had tonight and even more unusual (at least in Sara's mind) for him to not confide in her about who was calling.

Sara quickly found his messages and started to read through them. All of them were from E-Harmony, a service Sara was intimately familiar with. She just couldn't believe that Grissom Grissom had to resort to this to find himself a date. Obviously now would be a good time to ask him out again, but first she had to finish going through his messages. What she saw shocked her. It had never occurred to Sara that Grissom might be gay, but with all these matches being male it had to be true. Why else would he have turned her down every single time she asked him out. Surprisingly enough, the idea of Grissom being gay didn't bother her near as much as his being interested in Catherine or Sofia.

"Hey, Grissom."

"Where's this bug? I can't find it?" Grissom was crawling around on the floor and it was making his knees hurt.

"Forget the bug, Gris, there was no bug."

"But you said…" He was going to have to medicate his knees for nothing.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sara looked at him with as much understanding as she could muster.

"Tell you what?"

"That your…that you prefer…"

"Prefer what Sara?"

"Men. I mean I never would have asked you out in the first place had I known."

"Sara. Stop. What are you talking about?"

"The messages on your phone from E-Harmony. They're all from men."

"You checked my messages?"

"I was concerned about you."

"Sara, first off, you have no business checking the messages on my phone. Second, I'm not gay."

"You're not? Gre…I mean, um, do you want to talk about this over breakfast?"

"No! We've been through this before, Sara. I'm not going out with you."

"But…then who are these matches for?"

"I can't say."

"Fine, I'll ask Catherine when we get back to the lab, she'll know. She always knows." Sara smiled bitterly. Why wouldn't he confide in her?

"NO! Look, Cath asked me to find her a date and I'm having a little trouble so I decided to try this. It was a bad idea and I wish I hadn't done it. You can't say anything to her. You have to swear to me you won't say anything."

"I won't say anything on one condition." This was her opportunity and she wasn't about to waste it.

"Sara, give it up. I'm not going out with you."

"How did you…never mind. I was going to say you let me help you find her a date."

"Sara."

"It's either let me help or have breakfast with me or I tell Catherine what you've done. It's your choice." Sara smiled triumphantly. This was a win-win situation for her.

"Fine. You can help." Grissom sighed and thought to himself, "This cannot be good."


	7. Chapter 7

disclaimer: no i still don't own them, i would have if i had won powerball though (didn't win that either)

spoilers: slight down the drain & lady heather's box

**Thursday, later in the shift**

Gil and his team had returned to the lab to process the evidence they had collected. He sent Sara with Nick to organize everything, hoping to put off having to involve her in his dilemma. He went to his office and locked the door hoping to avoid Catherine when she returned from her crime scene. He also needed to check the new messages from E-Harmony on his cell, 15 new messages to be exact.

All in all, it had not a good day for Gil and he felt another migraine coming on. He opened his bottom drawer to pull out his pills and couldn't find them.

"Damn it!" He slammed the drawer shut, wondering how Catherine did it. She could come in to his office at any given moment and find exactly what he was looking for in an instant. She knew where he kept his stamps, where his blank schedules were, where he kept his food for his pet tarantula (which she nicknamed "Harry"). She knew how he liked his paperwork organized and where he kept all his supervisor forms. She even knew the order of the mess on his desk, something he fully didn't comprehend himself. Most importantly at the moment, she knew where his pills were. He saw her pull them out of that drawer yesterday but damned if he could find them now.

His cell phone signaled an incoming call. He looked at the display and saw it was Catherine. He smiled as he answered.

"Hello, dear."

"Hello to you to. Listen, we've got bugs here that we are bringing back to the lab. Found some blood also. This may be more than a B&E. Can you hang around?"

"Sure." His voice was betraying his headache.

"You OK?"

"Migraine," he mumbled sheepishly.

"Again? I thought you were fine earlier." Catherine was concerned. Normally Gil's migraines didn't recur this quickly.

"I was. It's back. And I can't find my pills." He sounded like a sick baby who just wanted his mother.

"What? I know I put them back in the bottom drawer of your desk yesterday." She wondered how he ever found anything in that office.

"Well I can't find them now." Gil just wanted her to come back to the office and find them for him, but he wasn't about to admit it.

"Open the drawer," she said in the same voice she used when Lindsey was sick and called her.

"Catherine," he whined.

"Just open the drawer, Gil." The man could be so damned frustrating at times.

"It's open."

"What do you see?"

Gil rummaged thru the drawer again. "Papers, files, photos."

"You know, for a CSI you're kind of dense at times." She couldn't help smiling as she said it.

"Catherine…" His voice had that warning tone to it.

"OK, OK. The bottle should be in the front of the drawer. Lift up the papers on that end."

"Well I'll be damned." Catherine laughed softly at his surprise.

"Take two and put them back where you found them." With that she hung up her phone.

About a half hour later Gil heard a knock at his door. Thinking Catherine was back he opened it only to see Sara staring back at him with a huge grin on her face.

"Can I come in?"

"Sara, I'm kind of busy at the moment." The medication hadn't kicked in yet. His head was pounding and all he could see were the white spots caused by the pain.

"I thought we could work on finding Catherine's date. Unless, of course, you'd rather do that over breakfast at my place."

"Sara."

"Hey, have you thought about asking Warrick. I've seen they way they look at each other." She marched herself into his office and took a seat in front of his desk.

"What are you talking about?"

"You've got to be kidding me. Those two can't keep their eyes off each other. Frankly, I'm surprised they haven't done anything about it yet."

Gil looked at her in disbelief.

"Seriously. Remember that case about a year ago she and Warrick worked in the sewer. I've heard they were this closing to kissing when they were interrupted by some guy from the city."

"And who exactly told you this?"

"Oh, um, just one of the officers working with them. Said it happened almost at the spot where Eddie was killed."

Gil stood up a the mention of Eddie and walked towards Sara.

"Yeah, said they were in each…"

"Sara, not that, what did you say about Eddie?"

"Oh, that. They were close to where Catherine found Lindsey the night Eddie died."

"Oh my God. I didn't even think about that when I sent her down there."

"What? She's a professional, she can handle it. Not like she hasn't spent plenty of time in the gutter as it is."

"Sara, she almost lost her daughter that night. She did loose Eddie." Gil's voice was growing louder and louder.

"Yeah, and he was her ex-husband, so what's the big deal." Sara couldn't understand why he was getting upset. She was just trying to tell him why Warrick was a great choice.

"Get out Sara."

"But we were supposed to work on finding her a date." This was not going the way she planned it at all.

"Sara, get out now."

"Fine. Wait till she hears what you've done." Sara slammed Grissom's door on her way out. Grissom ran to the door and called her back to his office. No matter how much of a heal he felt like right now he wasn't going to make it worse by letting Sara tell Catherine what he had done.

"Sara, stop!"

She stopped, a huge smile playing across her face. She had him where she wanted him. He was terrified of Catherine finding out about E-Harmony. She could play him any way she wanted. She wiped the grin from her face before turning to face him.

"I'm sorry. Please, come back and help me."

They walked back into his office and Gil turned his monitor to where Sara could see it and they started going through the matches he had received. After about a half hour he couldn't take anymore. She was driving him insane. All the men she was choosing were disasters. He had to find a way to get rid of her.

"You know, Sara, you've been putting in a lot of overtime lately. Why don't you go home and get some sleep?"

"No, I'm good." They looked through a few more profiles.

"You hungry?"

"Starving. Let's go get a bite to eat." Sara was smiling; this was what she hoped for all along.

"Actually, I'm not that hungry but you can go get something," Gil said.

"No, I don't really like eating by myself so I'll just stay," she said as she clicked on another useless profile.

"Sara, why don't you take off early and go to one of the casinos and see who you can find for Catherine." He knew how much Sara hated dealing with people and this would serve her right for being so nosy and trying to control him.

"A casino? I don't think I…"

"No, Sara, it's perfect. I mean, like you said, Catherine has spent so much time in the gutter in the past that any man you find there would be the right one and we wouldn't have to waste our time with this website." He felt horrible for saying this but if it got rid of Sara it would be worth it and he'd find a way to make up for it later. "Why don't you start at the Tangiers?"

"You know, that's not a bad idea. It is one of Sam Braun's casinos so I know she'd love the men that hang out there."

"Get on it then!" Sara got up to leave.

"Before I go though, why not Warrick?" Curiosity was getting the better of her.

"Because I already asked him and he has plans." Gil breathed a sign of relief as Sara left his office.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own these people. It's illegal thanks to the constitution.

Spoilers: Nope

**Thursday, end of shift**

Catherine had made it back to the lab a little over an hour ago, logging in evidence with Warrick and Greg before going to talk to Gil. On her way there she ran into Hodges.

"Catherine, can I ask you a question?"

"Uh, sure." Catherine followed Hodges back to his lab.

"I don't know quite how to ask you this, but…" Hodges halted. He was visibly nervous about something. "I was doing some, uh, research on some evidence that came in earlier and I accidentally came across your…" He stopped again. Catherine was a supervisor and he knew he was on shaky ground at the moment.

"You came across my what?" Catherine glowered at him. "Well?"

"It was your…" Hodges scratched his collar. "…E-Harmony profile. And I thought since you were looking maybe we could have dinner Saturday?"

"Hodges, that's very flattering, but no thank you. I already have plans" She rushed out of his lab towards Gil's office.

Gil was busy feeding Harry when Catherine burst through his door.

"HODGES! YOU ASKED HODGES TO TAKE ME OUT?" Catherine was pushing Gil back towards his wall. Gil was more than a little confused at the moment. He'd never ask Hodges to take Catherine out, well maybe if his only choices were Ecklie and Hodges, but not in the real world. Catherine was more furious than he had ever seen her. She had him pinned against his office wall, screaming at him and pounding her finger into his chest, something he found surprisingly stimulating at the moment.

"Damn it, Gil. I asked you to do this for me because I trusted you! And what do you do? You ask Hodges. Of all the men in this lab you asked Hodges. I'm surprised you didn't ask Ecklie. I never get a Saturday night off, especially with Lindsey out of the house. How could you…"

Gil started to regain some of his senses and grabbed her hand to stop her pounding him.

"What the hell are you screaming about? I never asked Hodges anything." He tried to get past Catherine. She wasn't budging though.

"Bullshit! I just came from his lab. He wants me to go to dinner with him. Said something about a profile he saw." She was standing nose to nose with Gil now, her breathing matching her elevated pulse.

"Catherine, please…" Gil somewhat tried to move away, he didn't want to because an angry Catherine was very much a turn on. It didn't matter anyway because she had him pinned securely. He wasn't moving until she was good and ready for him to move.

"Cath, just listen to me for a minute, ok. I never asked Hodges to take you out. The only person in the lab that I asked was Warrick and he already had plans. I'm sure he would have accepted otherwise."

Catherine just stared at him. Why the hell would he ask Warrick? Sure he was physically attractive. He most definitely was physically attractive, but she never really thought of him as anything more than a friend. And why was she thinking about this now, she was angry with Gil.

"And Greg?"

"What? I never asked Greg…" Gil figured this was probably a very good time to seriously get out of her reach.

"I've talked to Greg. You told him what I asked you to do and now I've got to take him to Chuck E. Cheese with Lindsey and she hates that place."

Gil laughed. Then he realized his mistake in laughing as Catherine flicked her finger hard on his temple.

"Ouch!" Gil brought his hand to his head and rubbed the spot.

"Serves you right." Gil flicked her on her shoulder. "Ouch!" Catherine jumped back and Gil escaped her grasp.

"Payback." Gil said smugly.

Catherine was beyond pissed now. How dare he flick her back? She came around his desk full of fury and flicked him in the back of the head.

"You shouldn't flick women. It's not poli—OUCH!" Gil had meant to flick her in the arm but she had turned at the last minute and he got her breast instead. Catherine had wrapper her arms around her chest and dropped her head.

"Catherine, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" He reached for her shoulder providing Catherine with the opening she needed. In one swift move she gave him a purple nurple as payback.

"Damn it! Cath I flicked your breast by accident."

"You still flicked it." She turned to leave his office. "What the hell?"

Gil pinched her ass. Twice. Catherine walked slowly back to him, a determined look in her eye.

"Catherine. Catherine, stop. Catherine, what are you doing?" He was backing away from her. "Catherine, whatever you're thinking stop it."

She had closed the distance between them.

"I believe you're a pinch or two ahead of me, Grissom." She wrapped her arm around his waist and was reaching for his ass. Unfortunately, this move left her frontside open to Gil. She grabbed his ass at the same time he grabbed her breast to give her a purple nurple and they both froze as they realized where their hands were and how close they were to each other. Gil opened his mouth to speak when he heard the door start to open. They jumped apart, but not soon enough.

"Hey, I got the…whoa! Am I interrupting something here?" It was Jim with a file in his hand.

"Just the punchline, Jim," Catherine said as she left the room.

"Sorry, buddy, didn't realize you too were back on good terms." He was chuckling out loud.

"What? No, no. We were arguing over something." Gil's face reddened. Yes, they had been arguing but there was something else there at the end of the argument when they were touching. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Yeah, last time I 'argued' was two years ago. And I didn't get those little red marks all over me."

"Nice to know. Now how can I help you?" Gil took his seat behind his desk and shuffled papers around hoping it would make him feel productive.

The door opened again. It was Catherine.

"Gil, you never did tell me who I'm going out with on Saturday and where. Got to plan the wardrobe." She really didn't mind Jim knowing about this. He was a great friend.

"He's a wonderful man Catherine but he didn't want me to tell you his name. He's afraid you'd back out. He said he'll call you Saturday sometime and let you know where you are going." Gil knew that sounded horrible but she had caught him off guard and it was the best he could come up with.

"So you haven't found anyone?" He was so lying and Catherine knew it.

"Wait a minute, what are you two talking about?" Jim look from one to the other, totally confused. He was certain he had walked in on them.

"Long story short, Jim, I asked Gil to find me a date. Something he apparently cannot do." Catherine lifted her brow as she looked at Gil.

"I found you a date."

"Right."

"Catherine, you trusted me to find him. Now trust me when I say I have found you a date." He said this with the most sincerity he could muster.

Jim looked back and forth between them, fighting the laughter that threatened to erupt from his belly.

"Fine. I'm late picking up Lindsey. See you tonight." She left knowing he was lying but trusting him to find someone in spite of this.

"So who's the mystery date?" Jim took a seat in front of Gil.

"Shut up, Jim"

"Is it you?"

"No."

"So, you actually haven't found her a date yet?"

"No."

"And you just lied to Catherine."

"Yes."

"She's going to kill you."

"I know."

"So, what are you going to do?" Jim took a piece of candy out of the bowl on Gil's desk and unwrapped it. He started to put it in his mouth when he noticed the shape---a grasshopper. He wrapped it back up and returned it to the bowl.

"The date isn't supposed to be until Saturday night. I've still got time. I'll just go ahead and plan the events then whoever I find can just show up." Ideas were running through his mind as he said this.

"That's romantic. But coming from someone as emotionally crippled as you I'm afraid they'll end up at some bug museum" Jim could just picture Catherine and some mystery man on a date Gil Grissom had planned. It was a disaster waiting to happen.

"I thought you barged in here for a reason."

"Oh yeah, got a suspect pulled in for you."


	9. Chapter 9

Friday, before shift

Gil had not slept well again. His little white lie was eating at his conscious. He had lied to Catherine. And now he had to find a way out of this before she found out and bit his head off. Or worse. Gil shuddered. While angry Catherine might have been a turn on yesterday (where was that thought coming from?) today she was a frightening image. The last time he kept something from her and she found out about she held it against him for two years. He rolled over and pulled the pillow over the top of his head. If he didn't open his eyes the day couldn't start. If he kept them closed long enough he might fall back asleep and not wake up till Sunday when this whole nightmare would be over. Unfortunately for Gil the Fates were not on his side today. Somebody was relentlessly knocking at his door.

He got out of his bed, grabbed his robe and headed for the door. When he pulled it open he was greeted by an unexpected site, one Sara Sidle with her mouth wide open.

"This cannot be good." Grissom thought to himself. To Sara he said "Come in."

She waltzed into his townhouse, threw her bag on his counter and sat her ass down in his favorite chair. This last action pissed Grissom off. That was HIS chair and only HIS. He stared coldly at her for several minutes and it never seemed to register with her. Finally he just grunted in frustration and went to his fridge to retrieve a bottle of water so he could take some more of his migraine medication. He swallowed the pills, downed the bottle of water and tossed the bottle into his trash.

"What do you want Sara? I've got an appointment and need to get ready." It was a lie.

"Really? With who?" Sara forced a curious smile to her face. She "knew" her supervisor never went out and had no friends outside his coworkers.

"It's personal. What do you want?" Somebody was definitely not in a good mood this morning and it had everything to do with his little white lie.

"You look like you just woke up. Do you want me to make you something to eat?" Sara stood and started towards his kitchen.

"NO! What do you want Sara?" Grissom didn't like people in his home, especially when he was trying to prevent the day from starting in the first place.

"How about we go grab a bite somewhere then?" Sara raised a hopeful eyebrow as she looked at him.

"SARA!" Grissom was running out of what little patience he had when he found Sara at his door.

"Fine. I wanted to tell you I found a date for Catherine."

"What?"

"I found a date for Catherine. Actually I found several, but this one guy I think she'll really go for."

"What the hell are you talking about Sara?" Grissom was confused. Had Catherine asked Sara to find her a date also?

"What do you think I'm talking about? You sent me to the Tangiers to find a date for Catherine so I did."

"Oh, yeah." As brilliant a scientist as Gil Grissom was, when rudely awakened he wasn't the most intelligent person. "I didn't really think you'd do it."

"Are you proud of me?" Sara was hopeful that this would finally make him notice her.

"Uh, sure." Grissom walked to his kitchen and started rummaging through his pantry. He wasn't in the mood to stroke Sara's ego at the moment.

"Do you want to hear about him?"

"Hear about who?"

"Catherine's date."

"Yeah, sure." He said. His mind, however, was screaming "No, I don't want to hear about him!"

"Ok, so I went to the casino. It was full of men everywhere, all of them gambling or in line to see the show. So I thought about it for a few minutes and decided that since she's used to be a stripper…"

"EXOTIC DANCER"

"…WHATEVER…that the men in line for the show would probably be more her type. Then I remembered you put her picture on E-Harmony. So I pulled out my cell phone and pulled up her profile, figuring I'd show them a picture of her."

"You what?"

"Well, I wanted to make sure they were interested."

Grissom shook his head. He was so in over his head and he had no clue what to do.

"By the way, where did you get this profile?" Sara had pulled out her laptop and was pulling up the E-Harmony site.

"I filled it out."

"Really? How did you manage to make such a mess of it? Doesn't matter, I figured out the password and fixed it." She turned her laptop to Grissom for him to see the new and improved profile of Catherine Willows.

"You what?" Grissom barely glanced at the changes she had made to Catherine's profile.

"Yeah, it's much better now and she's getting a lot more responses. I also edited Lindsey out of the picture. You know, single mom doesn't bode well for some of these guys."

"Sara, how could you do that? You know how important Lindsey is to Catherine."

"I know, but honestly Catherine has enough baggage going into a new relationship. She doesn't need her prospects knowing she has a child also."

"But Sara…" His blood pressure was quickly rising to dangerous levels. The combination of Sara's attitude and the way she portrayed Catherine in this profile were enough to send any man over the edge.

"Look Grissom. This whole thing is ridiculous. She had no business asking you to find her a date. Obviously you couldn't find a man who would meet her standards, but don't worry. I did."

Grissom closed his eyes and breathed deeply, biting back the harsh words that threatened to explode from within.

"Sara, who is he?"

"His name is Harry. I found him in the line for the show." Well, almost. She had actually found him as he was being dragged from the show for inappropriate behavior.

"Does Harry have a last name?"

"Sure, it's Dick."

"What did you say?"

"Dick. His last name is Dick."

"Did you check his identification?"

"No, why?"

"Sara, Harry Dick?" Grissom was furious. Sara was an excellent CSI so how could she have fallen for this.

"What?"

"Don't you think it's possible he made the name up?"

"Well, I guess." Sara knew the name had to be a fake, but with Catherine's track record she thought he might just be what she needed.

"Did you find out anything about him?"

"Oh, I've got his cell number, told him I'd call him with the details tonight."

"Did you run a trace on the number?"

"No. Why would I do that?" Sara was beginning to feel that Grissom was a little too protective of Catherine.

"OK. So you made a date for Catherine with a Harry Dick whose phone number you haven't verified. Was he wearing a ring?"

"What?"

"A Ring. Was he wearing a wedding ring?"

"I dunno." This was not going the way Sara had expected. She had expected Grissom to be so happy she had solved his problem that he would be jumping into her arms.

"Where is he from?"

"I didn't ask. Grissom…"

"Why was he in line for the show?"

"I didn't ask."

"Sara, you are a CSI. Your job is to find evidence and information."

"I know that…"

"Yet, you pick up some stranger for Catherine without so much as asking him where he's from..."

" I don't see what…"

"…Much less checking his background to make sure he's not a criminal…"

"…that has to do with…"

"…Catherine doesn't need some random jerk off the strip. She needs someone who will…"

"…You know what I…"

"…treat her like a woman should be treated. Respect her, care for her…"

"…think, I think that you…"

"…and Lindsey, make sure they are safe…"

"…can't find a date for her because…"

"…love her like she's the most important…"

"…you are in…"

"…person in the world…"

"…love with her."

Grissom stared at Sara who stared at Grissom, neither one happy or comfortable at this moment. Sara realized what she had said to Grissom and that she was probably right, even if he didn't know it. Grissom was at a loss. He wasn't in love with Catherine, at least not in that sense.

"Give me his number." He wasn't about to give Sara the satisfaction of thinking she had figured him out.

"What?"

"Give me his number."

"You just said…"

"I know what I just said. Give me his number. I'll call him and check him out myself."

"Fine." She gave him the card with Harry Dick's number scrawled on it.

"If he checks out I'll tell him where to meet Catherine tomorrow night."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

Sara felt a warmth envelope her, Grissom was going to use the man she found for Catherine. She was sure of it. If he was willing to send Catherine out with Harry then he couldn't be in love with her.

"I, uh, need to go." She couldn't stay without giving away the happiness she felt inside.

"Thanks Sara." She smiled at him and left.

Gil walked to the trash compactor and drop the card into the hole. Then he flipped the switch and cut Harry Dick's number to shreds. He then finished his breakfast. Finally, he grabbed his phone and phone book. He had a few calls he needed to make before going into the lab.


	10. Chapter 10

**Friday, shift**

Gil came into the lab about an hour early in order to finish up an experiment he had been working on without interruption from the others. Unfortunately for him, Catherine had come in a half hour earlier and was waiting for him in his office.

"Hello Gil."

"Catherine. You're here early."

"We need to talk."

"About?"

"I think you know what."

"Tomorrow."

"Yes."

"Look, Catherine…"

"Gil, I know you haven't found anyone for me to go out with yet."

"How did you…"

"…Know? Gil how long have we known each other?"

"In days, months or years?"

"Months and days, smart ass."

"247 months and 22 days."

"Correct. So don't you think in that amount of time I might have learned how to tell when you are lying?"

Gil didn't say anything, but Catherine knew that was what he would do.

"Look, Gil, it's fine. I'll just stay home and do some work around the house."

"No, Catherine. I've still got one more day. I'll find someone. I promise."

"Gil, It's alright. Honestly, I thought you'd find a way to weasel out of this. I didn't expect you to even try and I know you have."

"You have no idea."

"Oh I'm sure I do. It's difficult finding a decent man, even more difficult when you had a kid."

"What does having a kid have to do with anything?"

"Gil, most men don't want the extra baggage in a new relationship. They want you to themselves. A kid is competition to them."

"Only if they don't care."

"True, but you don't know that until you invest some time together. And staying home waiting on the perfect man to show up at your door doesn't work. You have to go out and meet people."

"But your tastes in men leaves a lot to be desired."

"Yes, Gil. I know that. Trust me, I know that. It's still safer than internet dating though."

Gil's face reddened when she said this.

"You've tried internet dating, haven't you?" Catherine was surprised. She knew her friend dated but she never imagined his having to resort to finding someone over the net. He had woman falling all over him whether he wanted to admit it or not.

"No."

"Gil, we just had this conversation not five minutes ago. I know you are lying."

"I haven't, honest."

"Gil…"

"…at least not for myself."

"What do you mean, "at least not for myself?"

"Promise me you won't overreact."

"What have you done?" Gil decided now would be a good time to put some distance between the two of them. He walked around to the other side of his desk.

"Promise me."

"Gil…"

"Catherine, just promise…"

"Fine. Whatever." Gil looked at her. He knew she was lying. Catherine raised her hand and crossed her heart in hopes of pacifying him. "I promise I won't overreact. Now spill it."

"I sort of registered you on E-Harmony."

"YOU WHAT?" She cocked her head to the side and Gil suddenly had the urge for a shot of whiskey.

"You promised you wouldn't overreact."

"I'M NOT OVERREACTING!" She wasn't but to anyone passing by Gil's office at the moment it would have sounded that way.

"I was going to delete it as soon as I got home today."

"Sure."

"Honest. Sara managed to completely screw it up."

"What was Sara doing with it? And how did she know about it?"

"It was an accident. My cell phone kept going off, I dropped it, she picked it up and read the messages. She insisted I let her help me or she was going to tell you about it."

"And you let her?" Catherine closed her eyes, bit her lips and took a deep breath.

"I was afraid of how you would react if you knew."

"And how was that?"

"Like this. Look, Catherine, I didn't mean for her to know about this. And I've sent back rejections to all the men that wanted to contact you. It was a bad idea. She did find you a date for Saturday though." He knew this was probably not the best thing to say at this point but it had to be better than lying to Catherine again.

"You let Sara…what on earth…"

"…I canceled it. She found him at a casino. She didn't even run a background check on him."

"Why would she need to run a background check?" Catherine was beyond furious now. Gil had managed to completely screw this up. First Greg, then Sara, then background checks on the men he was asking.

"To see what kind of person he is. Has he had trouble with the law, is he employed, is he responsible, does he move around a lot."

"Gil, you don't run a background check on someone you are going out with."

"But I wanted to make sure you are safe with whoever takes you out."

"No wonder you can't find me a date. You are scaring them all away."

"Catherine…"

"Don't Catherine me."

"So I shouldn't have canceled your date with Harry Dick?"

"What?"

"That's the name of the man Sara found for you. Harry Dick."

"Ok, I'll give you that one."

"Give me one more day. I promise I'll find the perfect date for you."

"Gil, it's ok."

"One day, Catherine. I promise." He gave her his best baby doll eyes look in hopes that she would let him have his way.

"Fine."

"Now, so you have time to rest before your big night why don't you take the night off. We don't have much going on and if something comes up I can always call you in." He placed his hand on the small of her back and led her to the locker room to gather her things. He walked her to her car and made sure she left.


	11. Chapter 11

**Friday, later in the shift**

"You were running background checks?" Warrick was shocked. His supervisor had just admitted to him that he was checking out the men in Catherine's life.

"Always do."

"No wonder you aren't in a relationship." He shook his head. He knew his supervisor cared about Catherine but he'd never thought he would be this overprotective of her.

"It's not as if I can do anything about what I find out. She's her own person and is going to do whatever she wants."

"So why bother?"

"I just don't want her to end up with another Eddie."

"Or Chris."

"Or Adam."

They went back to processing the scene. Warrick was lifting shoe prints while Grissom did what Grissom does best --- observing the scene and piecing together what happened. They worked silently for several minutes.

"Accident my ass. He hit her." It slipped out before Grissom realized he'd said it out loud. He wasn't one to share his feelings with his co-workers but this had been weighing on his mind for a few months.

"What?"

"Catherine told me the cut on her face was an accident. She was covering for that piece of scum. It was Eddie all over again. She lied to me." The bitterness was evident in his voice.

"Now, Gris, why would she lie to you?"

"She was protecting that bastard." All Grissom could think about was what if Novac hadn't been a suspect and she had seen him again. All he could see were the times she had come to him after Eddie had hurt her.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Absolutely."

"She was telling you the truth." Warrick had had enough of Grissom's attitude on this subject.

"No, she wasn't."

"She was. She came over to see me after the case. She was pretty upset. Felt like she had let you down." Warrick remembered how upset Catherine was when he opened the door. She didn't say a word, just walked in and sat down. It had taken him a good half hour to get her to talk about what happened. He had been shocked to find out that it wasn't Novac who had upset her, but Grissom.

"She didn't let me down, she let herself down by allowing herself to be put back in that situation again." This was a lie and they both knew it.

"You had no right to speak to her that way. You made her feel like she was nothing more than a cheap slut for wanting what any normal person would want." Warrick's reaction when Catherine told him about her conversation with Grissom was to go and kick his ass. Even though his feelings for Catherine were not romantic he was still just as protective of her as Grissom was.

"I know. I was afraid. I wasn't thinking."

"Damn straight you weren't. She tried to talk to you about what happened and you wouldn't listen to her. Novac wasn't the one who made her feel ashamed of her behavior. You were."

Grissom was silent. It had never occurred to him that he could have been the one to hurt Catherine, but if what Warrick was saying was true then he did. It wasn't intentional. He just wanted to protect her.

"She asked me to do this because she's still angry with me."

"Sounds to me like she's letting you off easy." The two of them continued processing the scene.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Why don't you take her out yourself?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Friday, back at the lab**

Gil had finished up his paperwork, at least the paperwork he was going to do today. He was waiting around for calls from a couple of his friends. It was getting late. Gil was exhausted. If they didn't call soon then he'd have to call them from home. He left his office and went to the break room looking for a cup of coffee. He filled his cup and started back towards his office. But he caught sight of an unfinished crossword puzzle on one of the tables. He walked over and picked up the puzzle, sat down on the sofa and began to work it. A few minutes later his phone rang.

"Grissom."

"I thought you'd deleted my profile!" It was Catherine. She wasn't happy.

"I'm still at the office, I haven't had a chance yet." He really needed to start checking his caller ID before answering calls.

"Did you see what Sara put in here?"

"No." His migraine was back again. He left the break room and headed back to his office.

"Let me read you just a small part of it. 'My name is Catherine, but you can call me Kitty Cat. I'm a former stripper who works with law enforcement. I like fast cars and the men who drive them.' She makes me sound like a hooker."

"Catherine, I'm so sorry." He would make sure Sara apologized to Catherine for her actions.

"Delete the profile. Now." It was a command, not a request.

"I'm in my office doing it as we speak." He was sitting at his desk waiting on the page to load. "My other line's beeping. I've gotta go."

"Gil Grissom, don't you dare hang uh…" Gil clicked over to the second line.

"Grissom."

"Hey buddy! What's up?" It was Randy Cummings, a local astronomer and golfing buddy.

"Randy, you got my message?"

"Sure did."

"Can you do it?"

"Not a problem at all. I know I've only met Catherine once but she seems like an incredible woman."

"Thanks. I owe you." He hung up the phone and shut down his computer. Now that everything was taken care of he could go home and sleep. And, for the first time since Tuesday, he knew he would sleep easy. Catherine was going to have her date after all.


	13. Chapter 13

Gil's Saturday

Gil decided to go down to the gym for a workout and tanning session. He wasn't a fanatic about fitness but he did feel that he should put some effort into staying healthy. He had signed up with several of his friends, figuring that it was the one place they all would stand a chance of seeing each other on a regular basis. All of his good friends were involved in vastly different fields so the gym gave them a common ground. Plus the juice bar had the best brauts in all of Vegas.

He didn't see anyone he was looking for so he just took a spot on one of the treadmills and began walking. The treadmill was his machine. It didn't require much effort and he could go as fast or as slow as he felt like going. Today he felt slow. He had been there for about 10 minutes when Stan joined him.

"Hey Bugman." Stan hopped onto the adjoining treadmill.

"Hey Stan, how's the new love?"

"Great. We're going to be taking a trip to the Grand Tetons next month."

"First trip together?"

"Yeah, going for the week."

"Great skiing up there."

"So you say. Will find out next month I guess." Stan grabbed a sip of water from his bottle. "You and Catherine still fighting?"

"No, I think we're good again. At least for a while." Gil pressed the button to lower the speed so he could begin his cool down.

"Gil, why don't you just take her out on a date yourself?"

"If Catherine wanted to go out with me she would just ask me out. She wouldn't ask me to find her a date."

Stan got off the treadmill and grabbed his stuff. "That's enough of that. Let's go sit down and talk."

They went to the juice bar in the gym and grabbed a table. Stan ordered a couple of brauts and herbal tea. It was an odd combination, but the way Stan looked at it the good of the tea balanced the bad of the brauts.

"Gil, what do you think is the real reason for Catherine asking you to find her a date?"

"I thought we were talking about your trip to the Tetons." Gil knew trying avoidance with a psychiatrist was not the best move but he still tried it.

"Gil, do you think maybe she was lonely?"

"No, she has Lindsey, her mother and her friends. What reason does she have to be lonely?"

Their server arrived with the order, giving Gil what he hope was an opportunity for this conversation to end. Stan had other thoughts though.

"Gil, that's not what I meant." He took a bite out of his braut. "Damn, these things are great. Do you think maybe she misses having a man in her life?"

"She has men in her life. Me, Warrick, Nick, Greg, Brass…"

"Gil, do you think she misses have a man in her life in a romantic relationship?"

"Probably. But she has the worst taste in men. She's just going to end up being hurt again."

"Gil, if she chooses to be with someone who hurts her then that is her choice and her responsibility."

"Not if I can help it. Stan, you never saw her after one of Eddie's beatings. There were times I was amazed she was standing."

"But, Gil, it was her choice to stay with Eddie." Stan felt for him. He saw women every day who were making the same choices. He knew from experience that unless they were ready to make a change that they would keep repeating the pattern.

"It was a bad choice."

"But it was her choice. You cannot live her life for her."

"I can protect her though."

"Only if she wants you to. Gil, listen. Don't talk. I'm putting this as simply as possible. She asked you to find her a date because you hurt her by what you said after you told her not to go out. She is trying to satisfy your need to protect her. Knowing Catherine, she's also trying to drive you a little crazy in the process. She is trusting you to fill this hole in her life. Now, it's up to you how you choose to do that."


	14. Catherine's Saturday

Catherine's Saturday

Saturday, Late Morning

Catherine was lying on the couch napping while Linds was watching MTV, talking on the phone and getting ready for her sleepover when someone knocked on the door. Lindsey ran over and opened it to see a limousine driver at the door.

"I'm here for Ms. Willows."

"MOM!" she yelled. "Come on in." Lindsey walked back to the living room and shook her mother awake. "Mom, there's a man here to see you."

Catherine opened her eyes and saw the limousine driver standing over her. "Can I help you?"

"I was sent to pick you up." The driver was a tall man with brown hair. He was holding his cap under his head.

"By who?" Catherine sat up slowly.

"Mr. Grissom said I wasn't at liberty to divulge that information." He looked apologetically at her.

"Gil?"

"Yes ma'am. He said to tell you that your date would meet you later and that you were to come with me at the gentleman's request."

"I'm sorry but I can't leave. My daughter is preparing for a sleepover."

"The gentleman also requested your daughter come with us. Arrangements have been made with her friend's mother regarding the sleepover. We will drop your daughter off on the way to dinner."

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but unless you can give me more information I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Mr. Grissom said you would say that. Please call him to verify everything."

Catherine grabbed her cell and pressed the button for Gil's number. He told her that everything was on the up and up.

"Let me get a shower first."

"Not necessary ma'am. Please, we must leave or you will be late."

Catherine and Lindsey followed the driver to the car, where he opened the door and let them in. The inside of the limo was filled with fruit and sparkling wine. Lindsey read the note on the tray.

"Ms. Willows, I am looking forward to our dinner this evening. For now, please enjoy the day with your daughter." Lindsey handed the card to her mother. Catherine read it with a bit of disappointment. The note was typed and unsigned. No clue as to the identity of her date. She watched as they drove through the strip, pulling into the Bellagio. The car came to a halt under the canopy and the driver opened the door for them to exit the car.

"Please follow me," He led them through the hotel to a private elevator, where he inserted an access key to an unlisted floor. Once there he led them to the hotel's private spa. A young woman came in to greet them.

"Hello Ms. Willows. I'm Denise. Would you and your daughter please come with me."

"Can you tell me what's going on?"

"A gentleman has arranged for the two of you to enjoy a full day of our facility's services. Massages, facials, manicures, pedicures. Whatever you want. Lunch is being catered by the hotel's restaurant."

"Mom, c'mon." Lindsey was tugging at her mother to hurry.

"Can you tell me who this gentleman is?"

"I'm sorry, I honestly do not know. We just received a package saying to provide unlimited services to the two of you." Denise handed Catherine the card she had received.

"Cool. Can I get my hair done too?"

"Yes ma'am, anything you want."

"Mom, I want my hair with different colors all in it. Can I do it?"

"Linds, don't you think that's a little extreme?" Catherine did not want her daughter looking like some of the kids they saw at crime scenes. She knew she was stereotyping these kids but when it came to her daughter it didn't matter.

"Ms. Willows, we can do a simple color treatment that will come out in under three shampoos. Her hair would be back to normal before school on Monday. Perhaps this would work instead?"

"Please Mommy, please."

"Alright, Linds. You have to promise to make sure it's all washed out before school on Monday."

"Sweet!"

"Not so fast. Before we do your hair how about a massage for the both of you?"

"Now that sounds sweet to me" Catherine said.

"Right this way ladies. You can change in here then just lay down on the tables. The massage therapists will be with you in a few minutes." As she left she turned on Merle Saunder's "Blues From The Rainforest" and lowered the lighting to set the mood for their massages.

Both changed quickly and lay down on the tables. A short time later four massage therapists entered and began their work. Catherine was soon asleep. However, Lindsey was wired and talking non-stop to the therapists.

"Did you know this is my very first massage?"

"Why do you turn the lights down?"

"Do you think you could put Hillary Duff in the CD player instead?"

"Wow, that feels good. What did you do?"

"Why do you use the oil?"

"Do you have any other scents?"

"Where did you learn how to do this?"

"OMG! Can I get my cell and call Jennifer? She'll be so jealous. She's my best friend and I'm spending the night with her tonight."

"Lindsey, why don't you close your eyes for just a couple of minutes." It was the therapist working Lindsey's back and head. Lindsey complied. Within five minutes she was sound asleep. All four therapists looked at each other and smiled then continued on with their work. Two hours later they were done. Both Catherine and Lindsey were sound asleep. Lindsey's therapist set the timer on the Tibetan Chimes to wake them in 45 minutes as the four of them walked out.

Catherine opened her eyes slowly. Her body felt so good that she never wanted to leave the spot she was in. Unfortunately for her she had a teenage daughter who felt differently.

"Hurry up Mom. Denise said lunch is ready and I'm starving." Lindsey had already wrapped herself up in one of the spa's robes.

"You go ahead. I think I'm going to stay here." Catherine had no intention from moving from the spot. Ever.

"MOM!" Lindsey tugged at her mother's arm.

"OK, OK. I'm getting up." Catherine pulled on a robe and they walked to the reception area where Denise was waiting for them.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were coming."

"The massage was wonderful. I'm just not used to having time to relax."

The followed Denise to the dining room and were seated by a window overlooking the city. An attendant brought them both salads to start their meal.

"So, mom, you're going on a date tonight?" Lindsey was excited for her mother. She stayed home entirely too much when she had a day off.

"It sure looks that way."

"Who with?"

"I don't know. It's a blind date."

"Who hooked you up?"

"Gil." Lindsey had a funny look on her face.

"Spit it out Linds."

"Aren't you afraid it's going to be some guy who raises termites or something?"

"Not really, no." The thought hadn't occurred to her before, but now she had to wonder. Gil had several friends who were as into bugs as he was.

"I would be."

"Gil raises cockroaches and you aren't afraid of him."

"But that's different. That's Gil." She took a bite of her salad. "Hey mom."

"Yeah?"

"How come you and Gil have never gone out?"

"We go out all the time."

"No, I mean like go out like boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Linds."

"No, I'm serious. Why not?"

"More eating, less talking." She pointed her fork towards Lindsey's plate.

"OMG! You have."

"Lindsey Willows, eat."

"Did you kiss him?"

"Lindsey!"

"Answer the question."

"Young lady that part of my life is not any of your business."

"Daddy said you did."

"What?"

"Daddy used to say you and Gil were seeing each other behind his back."

"Unbelievable!" Catherine put her fork on her plate. "I never cheated on him." It was hard enough raising a daughter as a single mother but having to compete with the ghost of Eddie Willows was impossible.

"Mom, dad lied a lot didn't he."

"Lindsey, can we not talk about this."

"I remember stuff. You know, when I was little."

"You really want to talk about this?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Tell you what. Why don't I pick you up early tomorrow and we'll spend the whole day talking about it if you want. That way we can enjoy the rest of the day here."

"Promise?"

"I promise. Now eat!"

"So is Gil a good kisser? Right, eating my lunch."

Denise returned as they finished their meal. She then took them to have mud baths, followed by facials, manicures and pedicures. The final treatment of the day was their hair. Lindsey's hairdo was beyond description. Five colors, braids, twists, beads…if she could think of a way for it to fit in her hair it went in. Catherine looked at her daughter and laughed.

"You look like you stuck your finger in a socket at Greg Sander's apartment."

"Sweet!"

"And you sound like him too."

"Ms. Willows, have you decided what style you want?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I have no idea where I'm going tonight so I guess something that would work no matter what."

Denise came in at this moment. The woman had the most incredible timing of anyone Catherine had ever met.

"Ms. Willows, I think I might can be of some help here. The gentleman sent over some clothing for you to look at for tonight."

Catherine and Lindsey looked at each other as Denise pulled the clothing rack into the room. On the rack were a half-dozen outfits in Catherine's size ranging from casual dresses to jeans and blouses. Below the clothing was an assortment of shoes and accessories.

"Mom, I bet he's rich."

"Lindsey." It was hard enough teaching her daughter that money wasn't everything when her Grandfather was continually trying to lavish expensive gifts on her. She didn't need a man in her life who would make it look like she was accepting the same thing.

"A rich man who raises termites." Lindsey was laughing.

"Lindsey Willows!"

"Ms. Willows, do you have a preference?"

"I don't know what we are doing tonight."

"Don't worry, the gentleman said that any of these outfits would be perfect for your evening. And that we were to have the outfits you didn't choose delivered to your home by currier."

Catherine looked over each outfit carefully finally deciding on a simple wrap-around floral print dress with ¾ sleeves. The stylist then pulled her hair up in a semi-casual upsweep with ringlets dangling from both sides.

"Mom, you look beautiful."

Catherine looked in the full-length mirror. She couldn't believe what she saw. She knew how to dress, she always had. But normally the reflection looking back at her had dark circles under the eyes and creases in her forehead from stress. The image she saw looking back at her was relaxed and carefree.

"Ms. Willows, the driver is here for you and Lindsey."

"Thank you."


	15. Catherine's Date Pt 1

Catherine's Date 

It had been approximately an hour since the driver had dropped Lindsey at her friend's house and he was still driving. For the first time since that morning Catherine felt nervous. She tapped the window separating her from the driver.

"Hey. How much farther?"

"Ms. Willows I'm not allowed to say. It is supposed to be a surprise." He looked into the rear view mirror at her.

"I don't like surprises." She leaned forward over the driver's seat giving him her best interrogative look.

"There's a phone in the side compartment if you feel the need to let someone know where you are." He shuffled in his seat in reaction to her look.

"I wasn't…"

"Ms. Willows, I'd be nervous too if I were in the middle of nowhere on my way to meet a man I'd never met before."

"Thanks." Catherine pulled the phone out and dialed Gil's cell then leaned back against her seat.

"Grissom." He sounded as if he were in the middle of sweeping a crime scene.

"Hey." There was an unexpected nervousness in her voice.

"Catherine? I thought you were on a date." Annoyance? Why was there annoyance in his voice?

"Hasn't started yet. I'm still in the limo. We just passed Pahrump."

"Pahrump?" Whatever he had been doing he stopped because there was suddenly silence in the background on his end.

"Yeah."

"Why?" Gil could see her rolling her eyes in frustration at his answer.

"You're the one who set this up, you tell me."

"I just found the man, the arrangements are his." The background noises started again. Catherine figured he had gone back to processing the scene. She knew he was busy but she was bored and needed entertaining.

"What's he like?" She glanced out the moonroof watching the stars fly by.

"Who?" Gil intentionally played dumb knowing full well whom she was talking about but wanting to annoy her just a little.

"My date."

"Catherine."

"Fine, don't tell me. Just don't expect me to tell you what happens."

"Listen, Catherine, I have to go. Greg needs me for something."

"What?"

"Catherine, I've got to go."

"Please."

"Enjoy your evening Catherine."

"Thanks Gil."

She put the phone back in its compartment then leaned back into the seat and closed her eyes. The nap during her massage had been wonderful but she was still tired. It wasn't too long before she was asleep again.

"Ms. Willows."

Nothing.

"Ms. Willows, wake up. We've arrived."

"Huh? Where? Oh, I'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep." Slowly she leaned up from the seat.

"We're here, Ms. Willows."

"How do I look?"

"Beautiful." He hesitated before continuing, not wanting to get "the look" from her again. "But I'd check the hair and lipstick before we proceed."

"Thank you." She rummaged through her purse to find her brush, lipstick and mirror.

"I'll give you a few minutes."

Catherine quickly touched up her hair and lipstick. The driver had opened the door for her and she went to exit the vehicle.

"Ma'am, the gentleman has requested you put this on before we go any further." He held up a silk blindfold. She nodded in agreement, allowing the driver to tie the smooth fabric around her eyes. He led her through a door and helped her into a chair. "Someone will be with you in a few minutes."

She sat quietly listening to the sounds around her and trying to figure out her surroundings. Wherever she was smelled of flowers and food. The room was too cool and too quiet to be a restaurant. There was light jazz playing over what sounded like an antiquated sound system. The reverberations made her think that she was inside a concrete or metal building.

After a few minutes alone fidgeting in her chair she heard footsteps coming towards her. Whoever it was stopped right behind her and untied the blindfold. She tried to turn and see who it was but a slight pressure on her shoulder indicated she wasn't to see him just yet. What she did see was a room full of candlelight. There must have been at least 300 candles spread out over the room, casting a beautiful romantic glow over everything. The next thing to catch her attention was the table in front of her. She had been expected an elaborate five-course dinner. Instead, she was greeted by the sight of hot dogs, bugles, yogurt, peanut butter sandwiches, a container of orange juice and carafe of clear liquid that smelled like vodka.

From there she began to examine the room she was in, careful not to turn too far in the direction of the man behind her. Her earlier instincts had been correct. The room was composed of concrete walls lined with various metal shelves. The shelves themselves contained various pieces of equipment and many books. Above her was a skylight that revealed all the majesty of the Milky Way.

She felt his hands leave her shoulders and heard him step back. He pulled her chair gently from the table and placed his hand on her arm indicating she should stand. His hand came around the side of her head, resting over her eyes. Once he felt her eyelids close he gently turned her to face him.

"I knew this dress would look incredible on you."

Her body tensed. She knew that voice almost as well as she knew her own but there was no way it could be him. She must be dreaming.

He took her hand in his and his other hand cupped the side of her face, his thumb gently stroking her cheek. "What are you waiting for? Open your eyes."

She opened her eyes to find Gil standing in front of her. He was wearing blue jeans, a midnight blue polo shirt and a leather jacket. He looked amazing. She looked at him, eyebrow raised in confusion.

"I'm sorry. I screwed up."

She looked deep into his eyes searching for something that she couldn't name. "What are you talking about?"

"You gave me the opportunity to back out. I asked for one more chance and I didn't come through for you." His hands fell away from her, the physical expression of his inability to find a man suitable for Catherine.

"But the limo, the spa, this…"

"I thought that a day away from everything and everyone might make up for some of the disappointment from tonight. I know how stressful things are at home." He led her back to the chair so that they could eat.

"Yeah."

He mixed two very generous screwdrivers, handing one to her and placing the other on his side of the table.

"And having your mother around just adds to the stress between you and Lindsey."

"Thank you. We, uh, we had a great day. She really opened up to me in a way she hasn't since she was a toddler."

He took her plate and quickly put together two hotdogs just the way she liked them and added a generous helping of bugles on the side.

"I'm glad." He then prepared his own plate exactly the same as hers, with the addition of a peanut butter sandwich and third hot dog. He did love junk food.

"We're going to spend tomorrow together discussing Eddie."

"So, do you think she's ready to hear the whole truth?" He knew she had told Lindsey about Eddie's drug use but had hidden the fact that he had abusive towards her. This was an issue the both of them had always disagreed on. Catherine had wanted to hide the darker side of Eddie from her daughter so that her memories of him before his death were as pleasant as possible. Gil's view was that Lindsey needed to know the truth so that she wouldn't end up in the same situation when she was grown. He felt that even with the knowledge of Eddie's treatment of her mother that Lindsey would still love her father for the way he treated her. The reality of the situation was somewhere in the middle. As much as Catherine wanted to protect her daughter she sometimes let things slip in moments of anger.

"She actually brought it up. I hated putting her off but we were having such a great time that I didn't want to risk an argument."

They sat quietly eating for a few minutes, neither feeling the need to say anything at the moment. The meal was simple and uncomplicated, full of their favorite foods.

"You should have seen her hair. Every color you can imagine with beads, braids and curls everywhere. I took a picture of it with my cell phone." She instinctively reached for her handbag, quickly realizing she had left it in the limo. "Oh! I guess I can show you after we finish eating." They both laughed.

"I'll look forward to it. It amazes me how fast she's growing up. It seems like only yesterday when she was learning to walk."

"I miss those days. Now it's make up and music and boys."

"What boys?" Lindsey wasn't technically his daughter but he cared for her as if she were his own. And like any father whose daughter was on the verge of puberty he did not like the idea of teenage boys being around his little girl.

"Just some boys from her school."

"What grade are they in? How old are they?" He was once a teenage boy himself and he knew exactly what these deviants were thinking about his little girl. The thought alone made him want to rip their heads off.

"Calm down."

"What are their names?" Gil couldn't understand why Catherine was so calm about all of this. Lindsey was her daughter.

"Are you going to run background checks on them also?"

"How did you…? Warrick told you." She just looked at him, unsure whether to laugh at him or tear into him for checking out the men in her life. After quickly analyzing his body language she decided on her approach.

"You've always had my back. I guess I never realized how often and to what degree." Now it was his turn to be uncertain how to react. Sarcasm, anger, rage, laughter---that would have been her normal response. Appreciation was not a reaction he would have ever considered.

"Always."

There was an uncomfortable silence between them as they finished the meal. Neither of them sure of what was going on between them or how to proceed from here. Finally he rose from the table and walked over to pull her chair out.

"C'mon, I want you to see where we are." They walked through a narrow corridor, halting at a large steel door. "Do you mind?"

He held up the blindfold. She cocked her head to the side questioning his motives. All of a sudden he wished he hadn't left the vodka in the other room. After the blindfold had been secured he turned her to face him. He made a series of ridiculous faces in order to be sure that the blindfold was properly in place. Her expression never changed. He made one last attempt just to be sure, blowing kisses at her. It was childish. It was adolescent and had Catherine seen any of it she would have been annoyed to no end. Secretly, he wished that she could see his behavior. He turned her back towards the door.

"Are we playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey or what?"

"Patience, my dear." He walked them through the doorway, pausing only long enough to close the door behind them. They walked together for a short distance before he stopped her. He put both hands on her waist, gently lifting her onto the platform before them. He then helped her into a chair and removed the blindfold. She opened her eyes again, this time seeing a large telescope in front of them.

"An observatory? This is…different." To be honest she had been expecting some elaborate location after her day at the spa.

"I wanted tonight to be different from any other date you've had."

"So this is a date? You and me?" Her voice was surprisingly small and shaky.

Gil stuttered slightly. He honestly had not planned on this being a date for the two of them, he just wanted to make sure her evening wasn't ruined because of his inability to find someone suitable for her. But yet, he did consider himself an example of the type of man she should be with. Images from the past few days flashed through his mind at warp speed. Sara telling him he couldn't find someone for Catherine because he was in love with her. Terry's telling him that he wouldn't risk going out with Catherine. Warrick's calling him out for his behavior towards Catherine. Stan's urging him to find the real reason he wasn't able find someone who would meet his standards for his friend. A realization was beginning to make its way from his subconscious to his conscious, a realization he wasn't sure he was ready for.

"Yes, I guess it is."

Catherine studied his face for a moment before responding.

"OK." A smile crept onto her face. It had been years since she had allowed herself to consider Gil date material. Back before Lindsey had been born. Before she had married Eddie. Before their job had caused them both to become so cynical against the outside world, him more than her.

He pulled out a keyboard typing in some coordinates and the telescope moved in response. He checked the viewfinder before motioning Catherine towards him.

"What is it?"

"The nebula in Orion's belt."

"It's gorgeous." She leaned into the viewfinder to look again. Gil was typing new coordinates into the keyboard.

"Are you ready for something else?" He hit the enter button and the telescope moved to its new location. Catherine looked into the viewfinder once more.

"I've never seen anything like this in my life."


	16. Catherine's Date Pt 2

She lifted her head from the telescope and found her face no more than two inches from Gil's face. She looked into his eyes again, searching for that unnamed something she had tried to find earlier. She could feel his breath entwining itself with hers. His eyes broke contact with hers, falling down to stare at her lips. Suddenly nervous she swallowed hard, subconsciously licking her lips at the same time.

"Catherine."

Before she could say anything she felt his arms snake around her waist pulling her to him and his lips descending onto hers in a gentle, yet demanding kiss. Her conscious mind left her as she instinctively reacted to the gentle probing of his tongue. Her lips parted allowing him to deepen the kiss as her arms wound around his neck pulling him closer to her. His tongue explored every part of her mouth, reveling in the taste of her. His hands had left her waist, roaming over her back and around to her stomach, quickly finding their way to her breasts. She pulled away from him, placing her hands on his chest in order to keep the distance between them. One hand rose to lift his chin so that she could look into his eyes.

"I'm sorry Catherine, I thought you…the way you were looking at me." He pulled away from her but she grabbed his hand and pulled him back into his chair. This time she initiated the kiss. This one was more urgent than the last. Any doubts that either had about this step vanished the moment their lips met. His mouth parted to give her tongue access to him. He pulled her from her chair and onto him, both of them desperate to get just a little closer to the other with each touch.

He pulled his lips from hers, leaving a trail of soft kisses from her mouth to her eyes, down her cheeks, pausing momentarily to lick her earlobes before trailing down to her neck. Her left hand pulled his head closer to her as she ran her fingers through his hair. Her right hand kneaded the small of his back, pulling him closer to her. His hands cupped her buttocks, squeezing and pulling her further into his lap causing her to moan into his ear. The intensity of the moment was too much and the chair suddenly lurched backwards onto the floor of the platform knocking the two of the apart. They looked at each other and laughed.

"Are you ok?" Catherine was just a little shaken as she had landed mostly on Gil before falling off.

"I'm fine. You?" He rubbed his back.

"Good. Not as good as a moment ago though." A half smile crept onto her face.

"I think I'm going to name that chair Brass." He pulled the chair out from under him tossing it to the side.

"What?" Catherine couldn't help laughing at the idea.

"Haven't you ever noticed Brass' timing? The moment we start to cross the line between friends and …"

"…lovers?" Catherine finished the thought for him.

"Yes. Lovers." He pulled her over to him.

"Every…" He kissed her shoulder as he pushed the sleeve down.

"…damn…" He kissed her arm as his hand pushed the other sleeve down.

"…time…" His hands untied the belt holding the dress in place while he kissed the other shoulder.

"…he walks in…" His hands slid inside the dress, cool against her warm skin.

"..and interrupts us." He began to trace a trail of kisses from her collarbone to her breasts as one hand found its way to the clasp on her bra while the other cupped a breast.

"The tush comment?" She grabbed his tush as she said this causing him to jump.

"I was trying to get in your pants." He leaned up and gave her a lop-sided grin.

"Right." Her hands left his ass and began tugging his shirt from his beltline.

"Seriously. My plan was to get you drunk, take you back to my townhouse and have my way with you." He quickly slipped her bra off her body, his hand returning to the breast it came from. His tongue tracing circles around her other nipple before taking it fully into his mouth to suck on.

"I think I shall call you Tom." He said to the breast at his mouth. His other hand was working its way south, stopping momentarily at her bellybutton before moving on to his destination.

"Brass isn't here now." She pulled away briefly so that she could slip his polo over his head, then straddled him rubbing against his growing erection urging him to continue.

"No." The word was muffled, as his mouth was full. His hand had found her heat, stroking it through her moist panties. The feeling made his desire grow.

"And I think you've found your way inside my pants, er, dress."

"So it seems." Honestly, conversation, even with Catherine wasn't at the top of his priorities at the moment. Finding a way to get her panties off without his hands and mouth having to leave her was.

"Gil?"

"Hfjpfhfrmmmm"

"Gil. My knees."

Reluctantly he left her breasts, looking at her momentarily before pushing her back off her knees and covering them with kisses. If Catherine wanted her knees kissed then who was he to argue. He heard her chuckle and looked up at her to see her eyebrow raised.

"That's not what I meant, but…"

"Huh?" He'd never noticed it before but Catherine talked too damned much.

"The floor Gil. It's grated metal and it's digging into my knees." He looked down and then looked at the grated pattern on her knees. He slid off the platform onto the floor, holding out his hand to help her down. She kissed him softly on the lips, gently biting his lower lip before moving down to nibble his chin. His hands tried to resume their work but she stopped him, licking the hollow of his neck. Nibbling her way down his check she laved his nipples as her hands reached for his belt, slowly unlatching it and pulling it from his waistband. She rubbed him through his pants, the feel of his twitching beneath her sparking more desire within. Her tongue traced a path from his chest to his waist. Slowly she unbuttoned his jeans, pulling them down with her as she lowered herself in front of him. She discovered two things…one: the boxers verses briefs pool among the women in the lab had no winners. Seems the quiet bugman liked to hang loose and free. Two: She really didn't care. She was just glad she didn't have to come in until late Monday night. Gil Grissom was most definitely a well-endowed man and she would need the time to recover from what was looking to be a most promising night. She took him in her hand slowly stroking him as she licked his thighs.

"Catherine." She licked his full length before taking him into her mouth.

"Catherine. Don't you want..." Whatever he was going to say left his mind as she softly bit down on his tip. She looked up at him, her eyes dark, lustful and full of mischief. He couldn't help but wonder what he had gotten himself into as she alternated between licking, sucking and biting him. She suddenly pulled away from him, standing up and giving him what could only be described as a chaste kiss on the cheek before walking away from him. Dumbfounded he stared after her as she left the room.

"Gil?' She was standing in the doorway, her dress hanging loosely from her hips.

"Gil. Are you going to stand there with your pants at your ankles or are you coming?" That was all he needed. Pulling his pants up quickly so that he wouldn't trip he followed her back to the room where they had eaten dinner. She was waiting for him on the table, eating a hot dog. His mind flashed back to a case several years ago when the two of them strode through the streets of Vegas and they shared a couple of hot dogs. It was at that moment he decided that he could never love a vegetarian. The pressure in his groin brought him quickly back to the present and the woman on the table. He took the hot dog from her hands and began to tease her opening with it. Catherine squirmed beneath him, trying to grab the hot dog from him. He grabbed her hands and held them above her head before resuming his teasing. She continued to squirm trying to loosen his grasp so he leaned forward taking Tom into his mouth, hoping that would still her somewhat. The weight of both of them was too great for the small table causing it to collapse beneath them.

"Do you think someone is trying to send us a message?" Her voice was full of frustration.

"Yes, and its find somewhere more comfortable." They had been so close this time, close enough that Gil was not going to stop just because of a couple of mishaps. He stood up, pulling Catherine up with him. He quickly wrapped her dress around her then pulled his pants up.

"Wait here." He left her alone while he went back to the platform to gather the rest of their clothing. Once he came back into the room with Catherine he grabbed a bag and quickly threw the remaining food inside. Not having the patience to blow out all the candles he grabbed the fire extinguisher and sprayed the entire room. He'd explain the table to Randy later. Grabbing her by the hand he pulled her out of the building and into the limousine.

"There's a town about 20 miles from here that should have a hotel. Find it." The window separating the front and the back of the limo reached the top just as he finished giving the driver instructions. He felt her hands on his waist before he could turn around, her fingers anxiously working the button fly of his jeans once again, releasing his erection from it's confinement. He shoved the dress back over her waist, not even bothering with the belt this time. His hand went straight to her heat finding her to still be just as aroused as he was. Making quick work of her panties he pushed his fingers into her, circling inside her before he began thrusting them in and out, curling them upwards with each thrust. He looked at her, her body arching towards him, before finding bob with his mouth and causing her to moan. Her hands were pushing him downward. Reluctantly leaving Bob (the name he had given the other breast) her made his way to her entrance with his mouth. His breath outside of her caused shivers to run through her body. He nipped her clit before allowing his tongue to enter and taste her. He felt her muscles moving against him and knew she was near. He rubbed her vigorously, tongue darting in and out as her body tensed before releasing herself completely to him. He rolled up on top of her, kissing her deeply and letting her taste herself on him.

"You're beautiful." These were the most sincere words he had ever uttered to anyone and he was rewarded with a smile that said more than anyone had ever said to him. They lay together for a few moments just looking into each other's eyes. The movement of her hand finally broke their gaze as she once again grasped his cock and began stroking it. Gil tried to move her hand but she wasn't having it. Instead she shoved him back into the seat with her other hand, then left her ministrations just long enough to pull his opened jeans from his body. The look of mischief was back in her lusty eyes. She slowly licked her way up one leg through his inner thigh and down the other, purposely avoiding his pelvic region. Coming back up the other side she stopped at his knees, licking and kissing them as he had done hers. Neither realized it at the time but they were establishing a tradition that would continue for many years to come, a tradition born of misunderstanding and teasing.

Once she was done with her teasing she went back to the business at hand, stroking and licking him thoroughly before taking him into her mouth once again. Her head bobbed up and down his shaft, slowly at first. One hand stroked the inside of his thigh while the other rolled his sack. As her speed increased Gil felt his muscles tighten. She knew exactly what she was doing, stopping just short of his coming, leaving him with a kiss at his tip.

"The limo's stopped." She was pulling her dress back over her body. "Are you just going to sit there or are we getting a room?"

"What about…?" For the life of him he couldn't understand this woman.

"My knees are cut from the floor. My back and arms bruised from when the table collapsed. Your arms are bruised from that also. Your back hit the floor pretty hard when the chair collapsed. Not to mention the large bite on your neck and the bump on your head from when we hit the pothole. I want you Gil, but not in the limo." As she said this she pulled his shirt over his head and his pants up his legs, then placing his jacket over his crotch. "It won't take us five minutes to get into a room. With a bed." At that she crawled out of the limo pulling him behind her. Once he was out she pulled him close behind her and they headed toward the check in counter, Gil kissing her neck the whole way.

The clerk at the counter saw them coming and figured she'd better get them in a room before they decided to do it on her counter. It was a slow night. She could use the entertainment but housekeeping was already gone and that would mean she'd have to clean the counter herself when they were done. By the time they'd made it through the door she had the room assigned and the keys pulled.

"We need a room." Gil handed the clerk his card and filled in the registration card as quickly as he could with Catherine's hands roaming over his ass. By the time he was done the clerk had the keys on the counter along with his card. He snatched them both up and pushed Catherine towards the elevator, both of the frantically trying to find the call button. Once inside all hell broke loose, Gil shoved her to the back of the elevator and Catherine wrapping her legs around his waist. He was lifting her up as the bell dinged and the doors opened. A ride to the fourth floor was definitely not long enough. He felt her legs fall from his waist and her hands grab his. She was staring past him to the elderly couple waiting for them to leave the elevator. She leaned into his chest laughing hard.

"We should have expected this." Linking her hand in his she pulled him out of the elevator towards their room. The elderly couple moved into the elevator, the older woman holding the door as they watched the younger couple make their way clumsily down the hall, her mind traveling back to those days with her companion. The doors finally closed leaving them with the sight of the younger couple fighting with their key card desperate to get into their room. The elderly man said a silent prayer of thanks that he had remembered to pack his viagra because he was going to need it now.

Meanwhile…back at the door to Gil & Catherine's hotel room.

"You've got it in the wrong way." Catherine grabbed the card from his hand and flipped it over. The light beeped red.

"You're pulling up too fast." Gil took the key away from her and placed it back in the slot, pulling it up slowly. The door clicked.

"See." He pushed the door handle down but it didn't open.

"You have to push as you pull it out or it doesn't work." Catherine grabbed the key back and shoved it into the lock, the red LED lighting flashing back at her. "Damn it!"

"Give me the key!" He took the key back from her. "I'll slide it in and you push." He slid the key into its slot and slowly pulled it out, the greed LED light flashing. Catherine quickly pushed the handle down and the door opened. They nearly tripped over each other trying to get through the door. Gil grabbed the "Do Not Disturb" sign and slapped it over the handle before closing it and locking the deadbolt.

Catherine was fussing with the belt on her dress. In her hurry to put it back on in the limo she had managed to snag some fabric in the latch. Gil let out a laugh.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Catherine pulled impatiently at the belt.

"You." He leaned against the wall watching her. He seen her dance many years ago but the vision in front of him made those memories pale in comparison.

"And what is so funny? And think before you speak or else…" Between the damned belt and his laughter her temper was rising fast.

"You are." He could see the anger in her as her face and neck turned red. Damn, she was sexy when she was angry.

"Wrong answer." The belt still wouldn't give. She was ready to just rip the damned dress off.

"Dear, you used to strip for a living and now you can't get your dress off. It's funny." He walked up to her, working the latch loose before slipping the dress from her body.

"OK, funny man, you solved my problem. Now what are we going to do about you?" She wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him into a deep kiss.

"Me?"

"You're entirely overdressed." Her hands ran under his shirt and up his back.

"What are you going to do about it?"

"Me?"

"I helped you, its only fair." He winked at her.

Catherine winked back, stepping away from him. She walked to the bedside table and turning on the small radio. The romantic sounds of Rush Limbaugh emanating from the small speaker.

"Uh, let me find something else." She turned the dial until she found a classic soul station that was playing Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On." She turned the volume up slightly and looked back at Gil.

"Dance for me." She stepped away from his grip.

"How is that helping me?" He moved towards her but she pushed him away as she sat down on the bed.

"Never said it was to help you." She scooted back on the bed. He crawled up on the bed lying next to her.

"Then I think we have a problem." He traced lazy circles on her shoulder with his tongue.

"What problem is that?" Her hand was stroking him through his open jeans.

"I'm not in the mood to dance." He had moved from her shoulders back to Tom and Bob.

"What are you in the mood for?" She was tugging at his jeans. As much fun as this conversation was she was feeling frustrated.

"You." He pulled his shirt off tossing it somewhere across the room. Catherine slid down the bed pulling his jeans with her, stopping only to pull off his shoes and socks. She crawled back on the bed, stopping at his knees before he pulled her on up. He sat up, spreading his legs under her, then pulling her into his lap, her legs wrapped around his waist. He lifted her, allowing her to guide his manhood inside her. They sat that way for a few moments looking into each other's eyes. He pulled her towards him, kissing her lips.

"Are we good?" It was a familiar question between the two of them, a way to measure their relationship.

"I don't think we've ever been this good." She cupped his face with her hands, surprising him with a gentle Eskimo kiss before letting her hands fall to his back. Gil placed his hands on her hips and slowly rocked them back and forth. Their pace was slow and steady. He wanted to make this last as long as possible for Catherine. He felt her muscles contracting around him and he quickened their pace. Her body shuttered causing him to release himself inside her.

They lay back on the bed, limbs entwined, sweat drenching their bodies. Gil pushed an errant hair from her face.

"Hey you." He stoked her arm softly.

"Hey yourself."

"Will I do?"

"I dunno. I may need another ride to be sure." She slapped his ass.

"Anytime, dear, anytime."

"Gil," she was running her fingers through his hair, "I'm off Thursday. Do you think you could find me a date by then?"


End file.
